A scenic byway is a specially designated road that travels through an area of natural or cultural beauty. You can drive on through your life as fast as you can, more focused on the destination than the journey. Or you can choose to be present and revel in the journey that is life. I choose the latter. Eyes wide open and marveling at the beauty that is everywhere all the time - this is My Scenic Byway.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

We visited the Smithsonian National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC on Friday. It was my first time there in so many years. I can't believe I lived in the Washington, DC area for more than 20 years and I can probably count on one hand the number of times I visited the National Gallery! I guess we all do this, don't we? We don't take advantage of things that are there in our backyards. We get busy with day to day life and find it tough to make time to go the museums and the sites.

The National Gallery is a good museum, but what made it a truly beautiful experience for our visit was that we were there on a Friday in mid-January which meant that there were hardly any people in the museum. No kids because they are all in school. No tourists because it is post holidays, middle of January and freezing cold. I LOVE empty museums. I love to look at art in peace and quiet. It is so distracting to me when there are crowds of people surrounding you, and people walking in front of you, and kids running around, and people talking loudly. This museum visit was BLISS.

I am really happy we were able to pay a visit to the National Gallery this trip. I look forward to returning to this museum. On a weekday. Always a weekday.

Some Scenes captured via Hipstamatic.

National Gallery East Building - Modern Art

Diana the Hunter - one of my favorites

Picasso's "The Lovers" - one of my love's favorites.

Love the couches. David and the Lions - one of my favorite paintings as a child.

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All photographs on this site are mine, unless obvious or otherwise noted. I use a Canon EOS 50D or my iPhone. I enjoy photographing my world and I like to share these images, but please don't use them without crediting My Scenic Byway and a link back to the site. I promise to do the same.